Amador County – Amador County Local Agency Formation Commission voted 6-0 Thursday to approve an application for the annexation of 845 acres into Plymouth, and directed staff to revise a resolution that would finalize the annexation, for consideration in February.
The annexation would add 11 parcels, including six owned by the Reeder Sutherland Incorporated that make up their Zinfandel and Shenandoah Ridge residential developments for 485 single-family homes on 512 acres adjacent to the city.
LAFCO counsel Robert Laurie suggested changes in the resolution so LAFCO commissioners would “not approve” the documents as adequate under the California Environmental Quality Act. Laurie said LAFCO in the resolution should note that it considered the documents as adopted by Plymouth as the lead agency as being in compliance with CEQA. He recommended they “strike all reference to you finding compliance.” LAFCO Executive Director Roseanne Chamberlain and a Special Counsel for Plymouth Adam Lindgren agreed.
Thomas Infusino, submitting a letter on behalf of Foothill Conservancy, said approving an “open space land annexation for growth” would be “contrary to LAFCO’s legislative mandate” to preserve open space. He said it also did not require the city to acquire a conservation easement and did not provide housing for all income levels.
Supervisor Chairman and Commissioner Louis Boitano asked staff to answer the Conservancy’s comments. Chamberlain said their reference to “open space land refers to undeveloped lands,” and none of the lands in the Plymouth annexation application are designated by the state as undeveloped lands, and “they all have designated uses on them.” Chamberlain said LAFCO is always in the position to have to weigh these values, but the “mandate is not immutable” and LAFCO “must make determinations rather than findings.”
Lindgren agreed, saying Foothill Conservancy’s comments transform guidance into mandates. He said the comments were “drawn from really broad guidance” for LAFCO. He said the developments also satisfy city housing requirements.
Plymouth City Councilman and Commissioner Jon Colburn said he wanted adjoining ag lands without buffer agreements in the annexation to be subject to the city’s default buffer (a 50-foot open space and a fence agreed on by the city with help from the county Ag Commissioner). Lingren said the city, like LAFCO, wants “bulletproof funding mechanism” for the care of the buffer zone, and used a “limited enforcement right,” modeled after South San Francisco, to allow the city to care for the land and bill a property owner’s association, or the landowners themselves.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
